The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has refused former PrivatBank owners Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov permission to pursue a further appeal against the decision ordering them to pay more than $3 billion to the state-owned bank. The British court’s decision remains in force, and PrivatBank will continue the process of enforcing the recovery of the funds. This was reported by UNN, citing PrivatBank’s press service and official data from the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Details
The court issued the relevant decision on October 29, 2026. Information about the refusal of permission to appeal was published in the Supreme Court’s official register on November 3. Specifically, it concerns two proceedings: UKSC/2026/0102, based on Ihor Kolomoisky’s appeal, and UKSC/2026/0125, based on Hennadiy Boholiubov’s appeal.
The British court explained that the former PrivatBank owners’ applications did not raise points of law of general public importance that would require consideration by the Supreme Court. Therefore, the previous decisions of the British courts remain in force, and the defendants’ opportunities to challenge them within the British judicial system have been exhausted.
How much the former bank owners must pay
According to the decision of the High Court of England dated November 10, 2025, Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov are required to pay PrivatBank more than $3 billion. The amount consists of several parts.
The principal amount of damages is $1 billion 761 million 957 thousand 792. In addition, the court ordered the former owners to pay $1 billion 190 million 83 thousand 824 in interest. A separate advance payment to cover PrivatBank’s legal costs was set at £76.4 million, which at the time of the decision amounted to approximately $99.6 million.
In addition, the court provided for further accrual of interest in the event that the decision is not complied with on time. Therefore, the final amount the defendants must pay may be higher.
It should also be noted that the former bank owners were initially required to comply with the decision by November 24, 2025. However, the debt was not voluntarily repaid within the prescribed period.
What the British court established
The court proceedings concerned transactions carried out at PrivatBank during 2013–2014, when the financial institution was controlled by Kolomoisky and Boholiubov. According to the case materials, significant sums of money were withdrawn from the bank through a system of lending to related companies.
In particular, the bank provided loans to enterprises controlled by the former owners. The money received was subsequently used to finance other businesses belonging to the defendants. At the same time, some previously issued loans were formally repaid using funds from new loans. This created the appearance that the money was being returned, although in fact the bank’s funds continued to be used.
On July 30, 2025, the High Court of England and Wales found that Kolomoisky and Boholiubov were jointly and severally liable for the unlawful misappropriation of PrivatBank’s funds in the amount of approximately $1.9 billion, before taking into account the value of certain assets transferred to the bank. During the proceedings, the defendants insisted that a significant portion of the funds had been returned and that the bank therefore allegedly had not suffered the corresponding losses. However, the court rejected these arguments, finding that using funds from subsequent unlawful transactions to repay earlier ones does not eliminate the harm caused to the bank.
On May 22, 2026, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales upheld the relevant findings. After that, Kolomoisky and Boholiubov appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, but were refused permission.
Will Ukraine receive more than $3 billion
The decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom opens the possibility of further enforcement of the court judgments without the risk of their being overturned through the ordinary British appeal procedure. However, this does not mean that the amount of more than $3 billion will automatically and all at once be credited to the bank’s accounts. To recover the funds, enforcement proceedings must be carried out against the defendants’ assets.
If the assets are located outside the United Kingdom, separate legal action may be required in the relevant countries.
Incidentally, back in December 2017, a British court issued a worldwide freezing order against the defendants' assets, intended to prevent their disposal while the case was being heard. PrivatBank itself had previously stated that it intended to seek enforcement of the court judgment against the former owners' assets in various jurisdictions.
Context
In December 2016, PrivatBank was nationalized due to capital problems and threats to the stability of the financial institution. The state spent significant budget funds on its recapitalization.
A year later the financial institution filed a lawsuit with the High Court of England against Ihor Kolomoiskyi, Hennadiy Boholiubov, and six companies associated with them. The bank sought compensation for losses which, it claimed, it had suffered as a result of illegal financial transactions in 2013–2014. The legal proceedings lasted nearly nine years and became one of the largest financial-fraud trials in the English courts.
In July 2025, the court upheld PrivatBank's claims on the merits, and in November determined the amount of compensation. In May 2026, the decision was upheld by the appellate court. The United Kingdom Supreme Court's current refusal has put an end to the former owners' attempts to overturn the decision through the British appeals system.
Reminder
We previously reported that Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Hennadiy Boholiubov had failed to comply with the High Court of England's decision of November 10, 2025, by not paying PrivatBank more than US$3 billion.